A Promise Made to be Broken
by Lisababe 1
Summary: Short story from Joe's POV.


I don't own the characters... she does. Just writing for fun.

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**A Promise Made to Be Broken**

**By Lisababe**

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I glanced around the parking lot as I shifted my truck into park against the curb. No black vehicles in sight, only late model cars, and her shiny new CRV. Another one of the perks for working for Rangeman, my ass. The knot in my stomach tightened and I grabbed for the bottle of Maalox in the console. I screwed off the top and took a quick drink. A dim light from her bedroom window assured me she was still awake. Good. It was time to get this done.

I tried to talk myself down as I made my way up the stairs to her apartment. I didn't want anger to play a part in getting to the bottom of the situation. I needed answers, and knowing Stephanie, yelling and flapping my arms wouldn't get me anywhere.

I knocked on her door and wondered if he ever had to rap a warning before he gained entrance. The obvious answer that came to mind made my stomach tighten a little more. If I lived to be a hundred I would never understand what got to her about him. He barely could speak two words at once, let alone form an entire sentence. But then again, from what I heard they didn't spend a lot of quality time talking.

I heard the chain rattle on the door, and I braced my hand high on the door facing, and leaned in as the door swung open. She stood in the doorway with her hand on her hip. She smiled and stepped forward embracing me in a quick hug.

"Joe, when did you get back in town?"

All she wore was a black t-shirt that hit her a little above the knees. My jaw clenched. Normally I ignored when she wore, what I suspected, was his t-shirt. But now that my ring was on her finger, it was an undeserved sucker punch. I ignored the impulse to grab the neck hole, and rip it in half all the way to the hem; instead I plastered a smile on my face.

"Can I come in?"

She smiled and stepped to the side as I slipped in the door past her. I stopped when I reached the living room. She stood in the hallway.

"You want something to drink?" she asked.

"No thanks."

She walked over to her cocoon on the couch and wrapped herself in the blanket she'd obviously deserted when I knocked on the door.

I dropped in the chair next to the couch and stared at her.

"Stephanie we need to talk."

"How was your trip?" she said with a tone of voice that told me she had no idea what was about to come. Unbelievable.

"I didn't go out of town."

She stared at me, her eyes registering my words.

"Where have you been for the last week?"

My eyes never left her face.

"I've been in Trenton tracking a situation."

She shifted on the couch.

"Since you haven't called me, I'm guessing you were undercover."

"You could say that."

She swallowed, and her eyes shifted to the floor. "And did you uncover the information you needed?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

Her eyes slowly made their way to mine.

"Then it was a success?"

"Maybe for you." I answered. I knew in that instance that she was going to deny the truth.

"What do you mean?"

Anger boiled in the pit of my stomach. I jumped to my feet. "Cut the bullshit Stephanie. I know he spent the night here with you."

She stumbled to her feet, the blanket wrapped around her legs. "So you lied and said you were going out of town so you could spy on me?"

I glanced at her hand, the anger inside finally boiling over. "You ignored the ring on your finger, and invited him into your bed."

"He slept in my bed, but nothing happened."

I snorted and looked at the ceiling. "And you expect me to believe he slept with you and you didn't have sex?"

"If you were the great undercover cop you claim to be, you would know a distraction I did for him that night went bad. A skip held me at gunpoint. Ranger spent the night because I didn't want to be alone. Nothing sexual happened."

"How chivalrous."

"It could have been you." She answered.

A part of me wanted to feel bad, but the important part would have done the same all over again. "So, it didn't feel wrong for him to be in bed with you?"

"He's my friend. I'm sorry, but after having a gun held to my head, being politically correct was not at the top of my priority list."

"I would hope at some point of the night you would have realized the man in your bed wasn't your fiancé."

She stepped toward me with a look of utter disbelief on her face. "If you intend to make a mountain out of a molehill, when it's you who is in the wrong, you can leave."

"I thought once we were engaged you would feel guilty for depending on him, but nothing has changed." I said.

"I'm not apologizing for my friendship with Ranger. If you can't handle that I'm friends with him, maybe we need to reconsider what we are doing." She twisted the ring on her finger, and I felt my gut turn inside out. This was why I never questioned the bond between them. Why I turned my back and ignored most of what I saw, but I thought a ring would make all the difference.

"We made a promise to each other when I put that ring on your finger." I said.

"That promise was about us, not him." She answered.

"It's never going to be just us. He'll always be a shadow in the room."

"He is going to be in my life, so if you can't handle…"

"Do you love him?" I asked.

I didn't need to hear the answer I already knew, her eyes spoke it for her.

"I promise nothing happened." She said.

"But you can't promise that the next time it won't."

I turned and walked to the door. I stopped with my hand on the doorknob when I heard her voice.

"Would it help if I said I don't want to love him?"

I closed my eyes and squeezed the door handle until I thought it would pop off in my hand.

"If only it did." I said, and opened the door.

I walked to my truck breathing around the dull ache in my chest. I climbed inside the cab and stared at her bedroom window as I started the engine.

It was perfectly clear; a band of gold wasn't stronger than an unspoken bond.

Even without a promise, he had her all along.


End file.
